Friday, January 13, 2012

Every Day Cyclist Feedback

Catching the STA for the ride home after work yesterday evening, I sat next to a gentleman who looked at me and then pulled out the January issue of Out There Monthly. Pointing to the Every Day Cyclist piece, he asked if I wrote it. I told him I did.

It turns out he lives north of Spokane not far from me and he has always wished there was an easier way to get downtown by bike than following the busy arterials. He wants to ride his bike to the Centennial Trail and Fish Lake Trail instead of hauling it there by car.

He asked if there was a map of Spokane bike routes. The only maps I'm aware of are the master bike plan maps but they don't show routes, only roadways that have lanes, are shared, etc. It shows the overall plan but doesn't tell you the best way to get from one point to another. You're left to divine that for yourself or find out from someone with experience.

Since he was stoked to learn there was a good route to follow from his home to Riverfront Park, I offered to draw it up on Google maps and email the link to him. Having done so, here's the map for anyone else who cares.

What about using google maps bicycle route planner? I put in your start and end points, chose bicycle mode, and it followed your route until it got lost at foothills. It even shows that heading west towards Howard is a better route (the solid green line), it just didn't choose it for some reason. link

You can always review the route it gives you and drag a point to follow a better road.

It isn't the best, but it's getting there. And it actually lets you report problems if it's using a road that isn't great for bikes.